BSL - Breed Specific Legislation

Breed-Specific Legislation (commonly referred to simply as BSL) is a law or ordinance that is passed to impose regulations on specific dog breeds. Such regulations can also apply to mixed breeds and even dogs that visually appear to be, or resemble, a certain type of breed.

While many people equate BSL with the 'banning' of breeds, it can also be enacted to mandate limitations and precautions such as mandatory muzzling, not being off-leash in a public setting, liability insurance requirements for the owners, enclosure requirements, etc.

► What Is The Purpose of BSL?

Breed-specific legislation is a political reaction to public outcry following a well-publicized bite or attack incident by a dog of a particular breed. Acting on the belief that a breed of dog is inherently dangerous and therefore jeopardizes public safety, BSL is introduced to remove the threat to public safety by either banning the breed outright or placing strict limitations on the breed's ownership.

► Which Dog Breeds Are Targeted By BSL?

There is no limit on which breeds could potentially be targeted with Breed Specific Legislation - it is at the whim of officials in various levels of government. One commonly cited example of how extreme BSL can become is Italy where, at one point, over 90 different breeds of dogs were included in Breed Specific Legislation.

In North America, breeds (and breed mixes) that are commonly targeted by BSL include: Pit Bull type dogs (the commonly used name of "Pit Bull" is not actually a breed, it describes a 'type' of dog), American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, Akita, Rottweiler, Chow Chow, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, German Shepherds, Dobermans, and wolf-hybrids.

► The (Many) Problems With Breed Specific Legislation

"Panic policymaking is defined as the speedy creation of new laws and regulations or new duties for governmental and private institutions in a situation of sudden, unreasoning, and excessive fear and anger."

"The majority of breed-discriminatory laws stem from just such a situation: A dog bite or attack, usually with high media visibility. According to Cass Sunstein, "In the aftermath of a highly publicized event people are more fearful than they ought to be – the phenomenon of ‘availability bias.’ An available incident can lead to excessive fixation on worst-case scenarios."

Continue Reading This Breed Specific Legislation Article

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The Flawed Alpha Wolf Theory

I wonder who decided that, in order to have a successful human-to-dog relationship, we need to mimic the relationships demonstrated by wolves?

The reason I bring this up is because an entire belief system and methodology of dog training and behaviour was built on top of the "Alpha Wolf" theory whereby, much like in a wolf pack, the social order of our human family must be maintained through (often physically) demonstrating our 'alpha' status and dominance over our dogs in order to keep them subservient and in line.

For decades that was certainly the popular belief - but guess what?

Over fifteen years ago the alpha/dominance theory attached to natural wolf social hierarchies was proven to be flawed and invalid. Not only that, but the type of social framework demonstrated by wolves in their natural environment is very similar to the leader/follower order in human families.

If this is the case (and it is), then why do so many dog trainers and other professionals within the canine industry continue to promote and apply the alpha/dominance theory to dogs and canine behaviour in general? If the original theory is wrong, then how can the training methods based on those theories be right?

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